Radwanska exclusive: I'm disappointed by Gilles Simon

Agnieszka Radwanska

Thursday, 28 June 2012

Exclusive: Agnieszka Radwanska, who could leave Wimbledon as the new world No 1, shares her thoughts with The Tennis Space. This is the first in a series with Agnieszka, the third seed at the Wimbledon Championships.

Agnieszka on the Gilles Simon prize-money controversy (the Frenchman has suggested that female players should not have equal prize-money at Wimbledon):
“That disappoints me because the girls are working as hard as the guys, so why should we have less money? Of course, the men are playing longer matches – their matches are best-of-five sets and ours are best-of-three sets. We’re women so we cannot play five sets. But I think we should have the same money. That’s only fair. It might be true that other male players think like this, but this has been talked about for many years. It’s fair for the girls to have the same money.”Agnieszka on the Wimbledon grass:
“There are no grass courts in Poland. We have fake grass, that’s all. People in Poland are always trying to imagine what it’s like to play on real grass. It’s very tough to take care of grass courts in Poland. I remember in 2005, when I won the junior Wimbledon title, it was my first trip to England and the first time that I played on grass. From the first practice, I liked grass, and I really felt good on the surface. I have good memories of that summer so since then I’ve continued to have fun. Grass is so different to other surfaces – it’s not like carpet, or clay, or hard. It’s just so different to everything else. Grass is a surface that you either like or you don’t. You can’t practise on it that much. You just have to like it.”Agnieszka on her Wimbledon ambitions:
“A grand slam is a grand slam, but Wimbledon is the grand slam with the biggest history. This is the always the most popular grand slam on tour. If I could choose one grand slam to win, I would choose Wimbledon. Everything is different at Wimbledon, with the courts, everything around them and the white clothes as well. That’s why it feels special.”

Agnieszka on possibly leaving Wimbledon as the new world No 1:
“I think everyone wants to do that, that’s everyone’s ambition. I will do everything in my power to become the world No 1 and to win a grand slam.”

Agnieszka on Heather Watson, her third-round opponent:
“I’ve never played Heather before, and to be honest I don’t know her at all, I don’t know how she is playing. I don’t mind playing here with everybody against me, that’s okay.”